@FierceBiotech: Pfizer won expert backing for Prevnar 13 in adults for pneumonia, meningitis and other pneumococcus bacteria diseases. Item | Follow @FierceBiotech
@JohnCFierce: EC aims at boosting antibiotic R&D with a public/private initiative, via Reuters. Report | Follow @JohnCFierce
@RyanMFierce: Agios attracts 3 large public investors, Celgene and VCs in $78M C round. Story | Follow @RyanMFierce
> Looking to rally the troops, Targacept CEO Don deBethizy is telling reporters that the biotech's recent late-stage setback for the antidepressant TC-5214--which failed the first in a series of late-stage studies--is something akin to going through a "scoreless" first quarter. Investors who bailed on the company evidently took a far more dire perspective. Story
> Pfizer ($PFE) says that the EC has approved Vyndaqel (tafamidis) for Transthyretin Familial Amyloid Polyneuropathy (TTR-FAP) in adult patients with stage 1 symptomatic polyneuropathy. TTR-FAP is a rare and lethal neurodegenerative disease that affects about 8,000 patients worldwide. Release
> Chelsea Therapeutics long and winding road for droxidopa has finally led to the FDA, which accepted its NDA and offered a priority review for the program. Release
> Sanofi's Genzyme and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation have inked a new discovery collaboration. Release
> AmpliPhi Biosciences has raised $2.7 million from some individual investors, including Jim Mellon and Gwynn Williams. Release
> New Jersey's economic development group has qualified a list of biotech and tech companies for the state's program that allows them to sell R&D tax credits and tax losses for operating cash. Story
Pharma News
@FiercePharma: Galderma's North American president Francois Fournier gets the profile treatment from D magazine. Profile | Follow@FiercePharma
> Pfizer aims for Lipitor deal with Express Scripts. Item
> Novartis workers end strike, but vow to fight on. News
> France stiff-arms Sanofi's Multaq after study. Story
> Pfizer near agreement to resolve bribery probe. Report
Vaccines News
> FDA experts back Pfizer's Prevnar 13 for older adults. Article
> GAVI to bring HPV vaccines to poor countries. Story
> Experts: Video on Delta flights misleading about vaccines. News
> Weakness found in deadly malaria parasite. Report
Manufacturing News
> Aesica CEO Hardy makes CDMO business fly. News
> Novartis workers strike to forestall plant closure. Item
> Merck leans on suppliers, partners to expand reach. Article
> Strikers want Dr. Reddy promise of regular work. Story
> UCB to set up major bioprocessing plant in Switzerland. Report
And Finally... Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Kyushu University Medical School say that a novel combination of a sugar molecule with cell-killing drugs prompted a variety of cancer cell types to kill themselves. Release